At least that is what it looked like to the many visitors who crowded into the park.

In reality it was a vastly extended Halloween experience that not only took over the courtyard and the Field to Fork exhibition but also Holkham Hall.

A short, free ride away from the hall, the Halloween experience spilled out into the extensive walled garden where there was something fresh at every turn.

Attractions included a midday fancy dress competition, regular spine-chilling and spell-binding tales by the ‘Story-Teller’, graveyard golf and freaky face-painting.

Holkham Halloween'Daisy and Esther Harrop with their spooky spiders

Visitors could also make their own spooky spiders, a Jack o’ Lantern out of massive pumpkins, a witches conical hat or a witches’ familiar, her ever present broomstick friend, the black cat.

There were spooky frights at every turn and about the only thing missing was a convenient settee to hide behind.

Things were calmer back at the hall where children had the run of the hall’s extensive kitchen.

There they could design their own topping for creepy-crawly Halloween cupcakes organised by Kiddy Cook from Norwich.

Holkham Halloween'Youngsters prepare pumpkins

Holkham witches were hanging about high above in the Marble Hall watching youngsters create their own Frankenstein monster, learn origami Frankenstein or solve a grisly murder that had taken place in the hall itself.

More light-heartedly there was also a guess-the-weight of a massive pumpkin to win an Easter treat.

At the Field to Fork exhibition skulls that were so often one of the ingredients in a witches cauldron were on show as was the chance to discover the secrets of a witches mystical brew - if you were brave enough to avoid the spiders.

The whole event, proved to be a massive success with many hundreds queuing to get into the park right from the first morning. But with the gates closed each evening no-one was around to confirm if the living dead took over after dark.

Holkham Halloween''One contestant puts lots of topping onto his creepy crawly cupcakeHolkham Halloween'Welcome to Halloween at HolkhamHolkham Halloween'The messy business of making creepy crawly cupcakesHolkham Halloween'The Story Teller bangs his drum for attention